LA FAMILIA CORTEZ RESTAURANTS'
COVID-19 PLAYBOOK
UNIDOS SÍ
SE PUEDE
Dear guests & team Members,
We hope this note finds you and your loved ones healthy and well.
It is safe to say these past 8 weeks have been among some of the most tumultuous and
emotional that any of us can remember in our lifetimes. The impact of the coronavirus outbreak
has been felt by individuals and families, companies and communities, across the United States
and around the world.
The
response
to
this
crisis
has
been
extraordinary;
our
city
is
blessed
to
have
incredible
healthcare workers and first responders that have worked tirelessly day in and day out.
We firmly believe that there is a way to keep the "social" in social distancing. From our drivethru fiesta to our familia to-go packs, we are always trying to find ways to stay connected to
the community and our culture, while adhering to safe and sanitary practices. Now that we are
looking at re-opening our dining rooms to guests, we will continue to operate with as much
hospitality and creativity as we do safety and precaution.
We felt that it was important to create this playbook for our team, so that we can stay ahead
of the curve and overcome this crisis as a team with our values in tact. This playbook was
developed for internal use within our organization, but in the interest of transparency and
communication,
we
wanted
to
make
this
document
public
so
that
our
guests
and
the
community can see our efforts and our fellow restauranteurs can use this as a resource as well.
After thoughtful consideration, we have decided it would be best to wait until Phase II of the
reopening of Texas to open our dining rooms to guests. In the meantime, we are beginning to
take the necessary steps to bring our team back safely, sanitize and make improvements that
would ordinarily be difficult to make while we are open, reestablish our supply chain, and begin
to train our team members on all of the enhanced sanitation and safety procedures that will
become our new normal. Our restaurants are soulless without the team members and guests
that fill them, and we cannot wait to invite you into our home once again to create new
memories.
con mucho gusto,
La Familia Cortez
1
la familia cortez PROMise
The restaurant industry has an outstanding track record of protecting our employees and
guests. To ensure everyone’s safety as we welcome you back into our dining rooms, we ask
that we make the following promises to each other:
our promise to you:
We will continue to be a leader in safe sanitation practices with all team members certified in
safe food handling and a certified manager on every shift.
All employees will pass a health check or complete a health survey prior to each shift.
All indoor and outdoor seating options will comply with the appropriate social distancing
guidelines.
Hand sanitizer or hand washing stations will be available to all customers and employees.
We will clean and sanitize common areas and surfaces regularly.
We will clean and sanitize each dining area after every use.
Place settings, utensils, menus, and condiments will either be single-use or will be cleaned and
sanitized after every use.
We will post the Texas Restaurant Promise at our entrances so everyone understands the steps
we must all take to keep our communities safe.
your promise to us:
If you have been exposed to COVID-19 recently or have symptoms of COVID-19 (including a
fever, cough, or shortness of breath), please help us keep everyone safe by using our
contactless delivery options.
If you have underlying health conditions or are otherwise concerned about contracting
COVID-19, please feel free to use our contactless delivery options.
You agree to wear a mask except for when dining, and follow the social distancing and
sanitary guidelines that have been put in place to protect you and our other customers and
employees.
If you have any questions about the Texas Restaurant Promise, please ask for a manager who
will be happy to assist you.
2
Our Core Values
In these uncertain times, we must stand stronger than ever, and be guided by our core values.
"We will glorify God by honoring the vision of our
founders, valuing family, preserving our culture and offering a world-class experience."
The company is guided by a single vision,
As we work to honor that vision, our entire team operates under this credo: "We are in the
business
of
feeding
minds,
bodies
and
spirits
while
exceeding
the
needs,
desires
and
expectations of our guests each and every time."
La Familia Cortez Restaurants strongly believes one of the main ingredients to its success
continues to be creating a special connection with the community outside of the restaurants.
We will continue, now more than ever, to uphold the principles of our founders and provide our
world-class hospitality with an increased sense of precaution and safety.
Integrity
We adhere to high moral principles and professional standards. We practice honesty in all
our dealings.
Caring
We treat Guests and Team Members with courtesy, honesty, and respect. We humbly
provide our Guests a sincere smile, attention and service.
Excellence
We achieve excellence by consistently preparing the highest quality food, offering superior
service, creating an authentic cultural experience, and giving special attention to every
guest.
Service / Hospitality
We provide Guests and Team Members with friendly, attentive, and respectful service that
is sincere and beyond their expectations, while always remembering that the Guest is
king.
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principles of Pedro cortez
"Anyone wanting to be a leader among you must be a servant. And if you want to be right
at the top, you must serve... your attitute must be like my own, for I, the Messiah did not
come to be served, but to serve, and provide my life as ransom for many." (Matthew
20:26-28)
1.
Open doors to those who follow you. Offer opportunities to those who are
capable of achievements. Mentor Team Members so that they are prepared to
follow in your footsteps.
2.
Treat everyone with respect and courtesy. Be humble.
3.
Provide Guests more service than they expect. Go beyond expectations. The
4.
Take pride in your work. Do the very best you can. Plan your work properly.
5.
Enjoy your work. Confront it with vigor. Have a smile on your face. Perform your job
Guest is king.
Do not
cut corners at the expense of quality or safety.
with dignity. Do your job as defined to you by your manager. If you have a better
way of doing it, advise your manager. Do not be ashamed of physical work.
6.
Be cautious with the health and safety of our Guests and our fellow team
members. Avoid accidents. Perform your job neatly. Cleanliness is next to
Godliness.
7.
Treat everyone with respect. Address them with dignity and provide them a
purpose for performing their job faithfully. Earn their loyalty. When possible, try to
help fellow team members in resolving their problems.
8.
Safeguard your reputation and that of the company.
9.
Get involved in our community. Assist people when you can. Do not anticipate
10.
Preserve our culture. Remember your roots. Honor your ancestors. Imitate your
Preserve the principles of ethics
and morality. Protect your integrity and of those you respect.
personal rewards when helping others.
heroes.
4
state of texas minimum
standard health protocols
As outlined in Governor Abbott’s executive order GA-18, restaurants may operate for dine-in
service up to 25% of the total listed occupancy of the restaurant and may not offer valet
services except for vehicles with placards or plates for disabled parking. As used in executive
order GA-18, this applies only to restaurants that are not required to post the 51% sign required
by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Restaurants may continue to provide to-go or
delivery services.
In accordance with Governor Abbott’s executive order GA-18, the following are the minimum
recommended health protocols for all restaurants choosing to operate in Texas. Restaurants
may adopt additional protocols consistent with their specific needs and circumstances to help
protect the health and safety of all employees and customers.
Please note, public health guidance cannot anticipate every unique situation. Restaurants
should stay informed and take actions based on common sense and wise judgment that will
protect health and support economic revitalization. Restaurants should also be mindful of
federal and state employment laws and workplace safety standards.
health protocols for
serving guests
Parties maintain at least 6 feet distance apart from other parties at all times, including
while waiting to be seated in the restaurant.
Make a hand sanitizing station available upon entry to the restaurant.
No tables of more than 6 people.
Dining:
Do not leave condiments, silverware, flatware, glassware, or other traditional table
top items on an unoccupied table
Provide condiments only upon request, and in single use (non-reusable) portions
Use disposable menus (new for each patron)
If a buffet is offered, restaurant employees serve the food to customers
Contactless
payment
is
encouraged.
Where
not
available,
contact
should
be
minimized.
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health protocols for
team members
Train all employees on appropriate cleaning and disinfection, hand hygiene, and respiratory
etiquette.
Screen employees before coming into the restaurant.
Send home any employee who has any of the following new or worsening signs or symptoms
of possible COVID-19:
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Chills
Repeated shaking with chills
Muscle pain
Headache
Sore throat
Loss of taste or smell
Diarrhea
Feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100.0 degrees
Fahrenheit
Known close contact with a person who is lab confirmed to have COVID-19
Do not allow employees with the new or worsening signs or symptoms listed above to return
to work until:
In the case of an employee who was diagnosed with COVID-19, the individual may
return to work when all three of the following criteria are met: at least 3 days (72
hours) have passed since recovery (resolution of fever without the use of feverreducing medications); and the individual has improvement in respiratory symptoms
(e.g., cough, shortness of breath); and at least 7 days have passed since symptoms
first appeared.
health protocols for
facilities
Consider having an employee manage and control access to the restaurant, including opening
doors to prevent patrons from touching door handles.
Regularly and frequently clean and disinfect any regularly touched surfaces, such as doorknobs,
tables, and chairs.
Regularly and frequently clean restrooms, and document the cleanings.
Disinfect any items that come into contact with guests.
Make hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, soap and water or similar disinfectant readily available
to team members and guests.
Place readily visible signage at the restaurant to remind everyone of best hygiene practices.
6
Clean and disinfect the area used for dining (table, etc.) after each group of customers
depart, including the disinfecting of tables, chairs, stalls, and countertops.
Clean and sanitize restaurants daily.
Hygeine
Mandate hygiene practices across the board:
Hand washing every 30 minutes
Hand sanitizers and wipes to be made available everywhere throughout the restaurant, both
front and back of house
Make masks available and mandatory for all
Scheduled sanitizing of all shared surfaces every 30 minutes
Increased cleaning across the board with an external-agency deep sanitization every 10 days
Ban physical contact (no handshakes, hugs, high fives, fist bumps etc.)
Remember: Guests are very sensitive to hygiene and anything that even looks messy will translate
to unclean, so everyone’s uniforms, hair, nails, any surfaces guests can see, all need to be tidy and
spotless, now more than ever.
20-second hand washing
technique with soap & water
to the tune of
"cielito Lindo"
Ay, ay, ay, ay,
Canta y no llores, Porque cantando se alegran, Cielito
lindo los corazones. Ay, ay, ay, ay, canta y no llores,
porque cantando se alegran, Cielito lindo los corazones
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Health
Prepare for the worst and find out where there are hospitals or clinics testing for and treating
the virus near you.
Restaurants are not a work-from-home industry, so there will always be potential exposure
risks. Ensure your team understands those risks. Plan on spending the time it will take to train
your team on specifics of how we intend to keep work safe. If a Team Member feels unsafe to
return to work, we will meet on a case by case basis to discuss a personal leave of absence.
Strongly discourage travel to your team for the moment. We have let our team know that if
they do choose to do this now, they will need to self-isolate for 14 days.
Enforce daily, mandatory health declarations for the team upon arrival. Anyone with a fever or
other COVID-19 symptoms will be asked to go home with options for taking care of their health
and steps for returning to work after the appropriate time period.
Extend this to anyone who visits your premises and have deliveries left outside wherever
possible. If not, have delivery persons also sign a Health Declaration.
guests
Create a Health Declaration script that all guests must confrirm before entering the
restaurant. Make sure they leave contact details and keep these safe so that you are able to
contact everyone who dined with you if you need to (e.g. if there is a confirmed case of
COVID-19 within the restaurant)
Be consistent when explaining to guests why it is necessary, e.g. "With the highly contagious
nature of the virus, we are trying our best to keep our community safe and are asking everyone
to complete this Health Declaration."
If guests decline to sign a Health Declaration, do not be afraid to turn them away. They may
be upset in the moment, but it is your objective to protect your team and your guests. It feels
uncomfortable because we are in the business of hospitality, but until this virus is under control
we have to understand the reality of the new world we live in.
Try and think about various scenarios and give your team guidance on how to handle them What if someone who signed the health declaration starts displaying symptoms like coughing?
What if someone refuses to wear a mask while waiting?
within the restaurant
Consider giving guests more space to physically distance themselves from each other.
We are currently only setting every other table. We believe physical distancing is going to
be part of the ‘new normal’ for the foreseeable future.
Offer a hygienic option for guests to store their masks in during the meal.
You can never have too many wipes or hand sanitizers available.
8
team organization
Make every effort to limit the travel of employees between restaurants. As the proximity of
many of our restaurants is close, we have traditionally shared a lot of resources but have had
to change this.
If you are a larger team like ours, consider splitting all of your teams in groups and scheduling
so that the A's, B's, C's and D's do not interact in-person, in or outside of work. This limits the
impact so if someone on the A's becomes ill and the rest of the A's need to self-isolate,
hopefully the B's, C's and D's can still keep working.
If you do go down the A-D team route, try and take into account any personal relationships
within the teams. If you know team members are dating, sharing an apartment, etc., just put
them in the same group. The chances are they will be seeing each other outside of work
anyway which will negate the purpose of splitting the teams.
Our team culture is that nobody is above service, so even our corporate team have gone
through basic service training and have worked in the restaurants. Because of this, they have
been able to provide invaluable support on the floor at a time when their presence may be
more needed in operations than in an office setting.
delivery/ takeaway
If you are using a delivery service, implement contactless pick-up from your restaurant. Do not
have riders come into the restaurants.
Do not offer the entire menu for delivery/takeaway. Test which of your dishes travel well and if
they don’t, don’t offer them.
Think about pivoting your offering to something more pick-up friendly.
Get creative. We are coming up with new offerings that are also fun and interactive for guests
e.g. fiesta kits.
9
strategic planning
During these uncertain times, it is important that we are fiscally responsible.
Offer reduced menus to help with food cost and waste. Guests have been very
understanding of our streamlined menus.
Work with suppliers to ensure quality and freshness of product and produce
Keep smaller inventories.
Review the expense approval process more stringently and have fewer people authorized
to approve expenses so everything is funneled with more scrutiny and by the same people.
In these circumstances cash is the lifeline of any business. The importance of managing
cash cannot be overstated.
Put an immediate hold on all non-essential expenses. Only critical expenses should be
processed while expenses such as part-time payroll should be on hold.
Things get cyclical with good weeks vs. bad weeks so get used to the nature of how
things take place and the need to be financially agile.
Freeze all hiring and recruitment efforts.
Have open conversations with suppliers and vendors about discounts or pushing back
payments. Do not ignore them or they will think you are going out of business.
communications
Ensure that the messaging across all of your platforms (social media, emails, press
releases, conversations with guests etc.) is aligned and timely.
Prepare for a guest or a team member to test positive for the virus as if it is inevitable.
We must be prepared to react quickly, sincerely and transparently, while maintaining
the privacy of the individual.
Have honest conversations with team members and discuss sacrifices such as reduced
hours, adjusted schedules, less tips, etc., to help with the survival of the business.
guest relations
Guests may be frustrated, stressed and scared. This often manifests as anger towards us, but
stay empathetic in the face of emotional responses.
Ensure you have team members on hand to answer all calls and emails in real-time. Redirect
phones if you need to.
Remember that as a restaurant group we are not qualified to give medical advice or advise on
next steps for guests. Always direct them to sanantonio.gov/Health/News/Alerts/CoronaVirus
for further advice and protocol.
10
external communication
sample templates
In the case that external communications need to be released, all statements will be made by
Executive Management or their designee. In cases of media inquiries, continue to refer to the
standard communications protocol and chain-of-command.
A GUEST WHO HAS COVID-19:
In these challenging times, we believe complete transparency
is the only way forward and need to share that the Health Department has informed us that a
guest that visited <restaurant> has tested positive for COVID-19. Our Guest Relations team is
making every effort to reach out to everyone who has dined with us in the past <# days since
guest was in restaurant> to let them know they may have been exposed. Out of an abundance
of caution, <restaurant> will remain temporarily closed while it is being re-sanitized and the
health of our team is being evaluated.
We apologize to everyone for the inconvenience, and
we look forward to welcoming you back when we feel it is safe to do so.
A TEAM MEMBER TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19:
We are heartbroken to announce that a
team member from <restaurant> has tested positive for COVID-19. While right now we do not
know for sure when he/she became infected, our Guest Relations team is currently reaching
out to everyone who has dined in the last 14 days to let them know they may have come into
contact with this <insert job function>. The restaurant is closed temporarily for deep sanitation
and the team is in self-isolation while being tested. At the moment no other team members are
experiencing symptoms, but as soon as we have more information, we will share it here. In the
meantime, if you have any questions please contact us via <insert email> and we will do our
best to answer them. Our thoughts and prayers are with our team member who is currently
receiving care from some of the incredible healthcare workers our city is so fortunate to have.
We wish everyone who has been directly affected by this devastating virus a speedy recovery
and we look forward to happier and safer times for us all.
11
internal communications
Communication is never more important than it has been during this COVID-19 crisis. As with
external comms, keep communication lines open and transparent. Everyone fears the unknown,
and there is so much unknown at the moment, so sharing is crucial. Where possible, have your
internal messaging go out before your external messaging. It is never preferable for guests to
have more information than team members.
Do whatever it takes to make your team understand that there is no shame around COVID-19
and that they will never be penalized for communicating with you. Sample messaging:
Right now we cannot stress enough how important it is to keep us updated around anything to
do with the virus that is happening in your personal life: Someone in your apartment building
tests positive - let us know. Someone you live with may have been exposed at their place of
work - let us know. You or your loved ones experience even mild symptoms - let us know. We will
never be upset if you communicate with us. There is NO stigma around having this virus. We will
not make your identity known to the wider team, but we do need to be able to get you and your
immediate colleagues tested and the help that you need.
Although we are doing everything we can to avoid redundancies, we have had to implement
some unpaid leave and pay cuts. As we do not know if/when business will come back, we
created a document that reminds our teams a) of the importance of health but b) also the
importance of managing their finances. Check in with team members and see if they need help
negotiating rental reductions with their landlords or filling out government aid forms, etc.
Get full buy-in from the team around all of the hygiene and health protocols. We created
signage for back-of-house areas across all the restaurants to remind everyone daily.
12
the road ahead
As we begin the journey to rebuild La Familia Cortez Restaurants to even greater heights and
standards than before this pandemic (and we will), there may be less competition in the market,
but our guests will also have less expendable cash.
We need to consider what the ‘new normal’
will look like and how we can best position La Familia Cortez Restaurants to offer our guests a
world-class cultural experience with great hospitality and high quality food.
disclaimer
The information provided in this playbook does not, and is not intended to, constitute business, legal or medical
advice; instead, the information and content provided in this report is for general informational purposes and serves
to provide best practices and guidance to LFC Management.
Readers and users of this playbook and its guidance
are strongly encouraged to carefully evaluate the information provided, in view of individual and unique business
circumstances, and to consult with the next level of management before implementing any of the recommendations
which may be contained herein.
No responsibility or liability under any theory of law (contract, tort, negligence, or
otherwise) is assumed, accepted, or assigned for any circumstances arising from or related to the information,
recommendations, or resources contained in this playbook. The information in this report is provided “AS IS” and is
not guaranteed to be complete, accurate, or up-to-date. No representations or warranties of any kind, express or
implied, are made as to the information in this playbook. All guarantees, warranties, conditions, and representations
of any kind, either express or implied, whether arising under any statute, law, commercial use, or otherwise, including
implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, are hereby expressly
disclaimed.
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